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Assessing and evaluating Ontario students

Mon., Aug. 26, 2013

Re: Ontario’s grading guidelines get a big zero, Opinion, Aug. 23

Ontario’s grading guidelines get a big zero, Opinion, Aug. 23

In his criticism of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s guidelines for student grading, Joe Killoran states, “While these learning skills may be ‘assessed’ on a specific section of the report card, they may not be ‘evaluated (the use of two synonyms to convey different meanings puzzles many teachers).’”

“Assessment” and “evaluation” are not synonyms and every teacher should know that. Assessment is finding out what “is” (e.g., the student spelled 20 of the 25 test words correctly), while evaluation is determining whether such a result is excellent, good, fair or poor, according to a norm or a criterion (e.g., for a child in Grade 3, that result is good; for a Grade 10 student, that result is poor).

That there is a critical distinction between those terms is essential knowledge for every teacher, including Mr. Killoran.

Thanks to fellow secondary school teacher Joe Killoran for clarifying a major disconnect in our schools.

The learning skills boxes on today’s report cards are irrelevant to a student’s transcript, prerequisites or later job applications. While the ministry insists that these skills are at least as important as curriculum content, current reporting marginalizes them, sustaining a culture of bottom-dwelling self-interest.

Those students whose guardians instill a moral compass and high expectations learn these skills. For the rest, a lack of consequences for zero investment, lateness, refusal to get help, lack of participation, even open disruption means that they see no reason to work with the resources teachers attempt to give them, regardless of instruction style.

No consequences equals inconsequential.

We are off-loading a generation of young people with few responsible, social or civic skills to post-secondary schools, where their families pay a much higher cost for their inexperience.

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